Main Event
Day 3 Completed
2017 PokerStars Championship Prague
Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2017 PokerStars Championship Prague
Buy-in
€5,300
Prize Pool
€4,146,750
Entries
855
Level
31
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
20,000
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
Paul Michaelis had to be rightfully hopeful for a good Day 3 of PokerStars Championship Prague Main Event considering he came in as chip leader, but he's likely positively thrilled with his performance after he finished in the top spot once again.
The young German bracelet winner wrapped up a profitable five-level grind with 1,270,000 in chips, giving him the lead among the remaining 49 players who will see Day 4's dawn.
Michaelis maintained his spot despite some late adversity, with opponents playing back at him and hitting him with coolers for doubles. There simply wasn't anyone close enough to challenge him.
Still, Michaelis' run isn't the only notable storyline among the final 49.
For one thing, PokerStars Team Pros Fatima Moreira de Melo and Marcin Horecki remain in the hunt. Moreira de Melo in particular had a fantastic and eventful Day 3. In an indication of how hot she'd run, she won an early all-in pot with ace-king suited against ace-king offsuit, flopping her foe dead.
Then, she won two separate three-way all ins. The first time, ace-king suited was good to her again as she outran queens and nines by flopping an ace and holding. The second time, she sent experienced foes James Akenhead and Martin Staszko to the rail when queens held against ace-queen and ace-ten.
Moreira de Melo finished with 723,000 while her teammate Horecki finished with 450,000.
Fresh off a second-place finish for over $1.1 million in WPT Five Diamond at Bellagio, Alex Foxen is also looking to continue a breakout 2017. He flew over for Day 1b right after the big score, fought off jet lag to make it through the first two days, and appears to be hitting his stride now and looking like a player to watch closely. He bagged up 761,000.
Also of import on Day 3 was the money bubble bursting. Although it took longer than expected as a number of all-in players survived, eventually someone had to go home empty-handed — except the bubbling players actually didn't since they received hefty promotional packages worth $30,000 courtesy of PokerStars.
Some of those who cashed on Day 3 included PokerStars Team Pros Jake Cody and Igor Kurganov, as well as Nick Maimone, Asi Moshe, Georgios Zisimopoulos, Ali Reza Fatehi, and pro racing driver Dani Juncadella.
Day 4 plays out starting at noon on Saturday and should feature an identical format to Day 3, except with heftier blinds starting at 6,000/12,000/2,000. Be sure to tune back in to PokerNews for more live updates.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Home Country | Stack |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Michaelis | Germany | 1,270,000 |
| 2 | Michal Mrakes | Czech Republic | 1,032,000 |
| 3 | Jason Wheeler | USA | 931,000 |
| 4 | Navot Golan | Israel | 888,000 |
| 5 | Anatolii Zyrin | Russia | 825,000 |
| 6 | Serhii Popovych | Ukraine | 812,000 |
| 7 | Gavin O'Rourke | Ireland | 803,000 |
| 8 | Assaf Ben Yosef | Israel | 793,000 |
| 9 | Alex Foxen | USA | 761,000 |
| 10 | Dario Barriocanal | Spain | 740,000 |
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
| Table | Seat | Name | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Fatima Moreira De Melo | Netherlands | 723,000 |
| 1 | 2 | John Mooney | UK | 120,000 |
| 1 | 4 | Jason Wheeler | USA | 931,000 |
| 1 | 5 | Matas Cimbolas | Lithuania | 630,000 |
| 1 | 6 | Ji Zhang | Germany | 592,000 |
| 1 | 7 | Nir Levy | Israel | 480,000 |
| 1 | 8 | Lawrence Bayley | UK | 453,000 |
| 2 | 1 | Dmitry Ponomarev | Russia | 478,000 |
| 2 | 2 | Walter Oaquim | Brazil | 328,000 |
| 2 | 3 | Colin Robinson | USA | 263,000 |
| 2 | 5 | Hon Cheong Lee | Hong Kong | 564,000 |
| 2 | 6 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 168,000 |
| 2 | 7 | Daniel Barriocanal De La Iglesia | Spain | 740,000 |
| 2 | 8 | James Mitchell | UK | 477,000 |
| 3 | 1 | Pierre Calamusa | France | 690,000 |
| 3 | 2 | Valentyn Shabelnyk | Ukraine | 603,000 |
| 3 | 4 | Diego Zeiter | Switzerland | 644000 |
| 3 | 5 | Alex Foxen | USA | 761,000 |
| 3 | 6 | Petr Targa | Czech Republic | 481,000 |
| 3 | 7 | Mathew Frankland | UK | 230,000 |
| 3 | 8 | Omid Mojaverian | Iran | 231,000 |
| 4 | 1 | Robert Heidorn | Germany | 660,000 |
| 4 | 2 | Louis Salter | Ireland | 575,000 |
| 4 | 3 | Navot Golan | Israel | 888,000 |
| 4 | 4 | Harry Lodge | UK | 220,000 |
| 4 | 5 | Xixiang Luo | China | 461,000 |
| 4 | 6 | Valery Yantsevich | Belarus | 442,000 |
| 4 | 7 | Ivan Soshnikov | Russia | 427,000 |
| 5 | 1 | Michal Mrakes | Czech Republic | 1,032,000 |
| 5 | 2 | Alessio Isaia | Italy | 271,000 |
| 5 | 3 | Dermot Blain | Ireland | 275,000 |
| 5 | 4 | Petar Kalev | Bulgaria | 175,000 |
| 5 | 5 | Jack Sinclair | UK | 259,000 |
| 5 | 7 | Aleksandr Mordvinov | Russia | 506,000 |
| 5 | 8 | Gianluca Speranza | Italy | 508,000 |
| 6 | 2 | Thomas Lentrodt | Germany | 370,000 |
| 6 | 3 | Serhii Popovych | Ukraine | 812,000 |
| 6 | 4 | Marcin Horecki | Poland | 450,000 |
| 6 | 5 | Dimitrios Kalaroutis | Greece | 425,000 |
| 6 | 6 | Assaf Ben Yosef | Israel | 793,000 |
| 6 | 7 | Dominik Panka | Poland | 585,000 |
| 6 | 8 | Kalidou Sow | France | 550,000 |
| 7 | 1 | Konstantin Farber | Germany | 600,000 |
| 7 | 2 | Gavin O'Rourke | Ireland | 803,000 |
| 7 | 3 | Gabriele Lepore | Italy | 377,000 |
| 7 | 4 | Jukka Paloniemi | Finland | 357,000 |
| 7 | 6 | Anatolii Zyrin | Russia | 825,000 |
| 7 | 7 | Paul Michaelis | Germany | 1,270,000 |
| 7 | 8 | Jean Montury | France | 227,000 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,270,000
-70,000
|
-70,000 |
|
||
|
1,032,000
492,000
|
492,000 |
|
||
|
931,000
1,000
|
1,000 |
|
||
|
888,000
56,000
|
56,000 |
|
825,000
210,000
|
210,000 |
|
||
|
812,000
12,000
|
12,000 |
|
803,000
93,000
|
93,000 |
|
793,000
93,000
|
93,000 |
|
761,000
247,000
|
247,000 |
|
||
|
740,000
205,000
|
205,000 |
|
723,000
-99,000
|
-99,000 |
|
||
|
690,000
-128,000
|
-128,000 |
|
||
|
660,000
52,000
|
52,000 |
|
644,000
-156,000
|
-156,000 |
|
630,000
9,000
|
9,000 |
|
|
||
|
603,000
153,000
|
153,000 |
|
600,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
|
592,000
238,000
|
238,000 |
|
585,000
-128,000
|
-128,000 |
|
||
|
575,000
-225,000
|
-225,000 |
|
564,000
-236,000
|
-236,000 |
|
550,000
-54,000
|
-54,000 |
|
||
|
508,000
192,000
|
192,000 |
|
506,000
-164,000
|
-164,000 |
|
481,000
202,000
|
202,000 |
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
Hari Bercovici got his last 200,000 in preflop with 
and was up against the 
of Thomas Lentrodt. The board ran out 
and Bercovici shrugged and accepted his fate readily enough.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
470,000
113,000
|
113,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
And the day is done. We'll return to you shortly with assorted end-of-day chip counts and a recap of today's action.
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
Laura has never interviewed a giant poop before. There is a first time for everything!
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
Matas Cimbolas opened the button for 22,000 and small blind Paul Michaelis three-bet to 75,000. The big blind folded, Cimbolas called.
As the flop came 
, Michaelis bet 50,000. Cimbolas called.
The 
hit the turn and Michaelis checked. Cimbolas bet a modest 55,000 and Michaelis called.
With the completing the board, Michaelis checked. Cimbolas shoved for 243,000 and Michaelis went deep into the tank before folding.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,340,000
-150,000
|
-150,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
621,000
121,000
|
121,000 |
|
|
||
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
Serhii Popovych and Assaf Ben Yosef saw a board of 
in a battle of blinds. Popovych checked and Ben Yosef jammed for about 450,000 into a pot of about 250,000. Popovych went deep into the tank.
"Time, please."
That call came from Popovych himself rather than another player.
"Queens?" he asked after the supervisor arrived and began tracking the final minute of the hand.
Popovych allowed his clock to expire without acting.
"You show two, I show one," Ben Yosef offered.
Popovych obliged, turning over 
. Ben Yosef showed 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
800,000
-250,000
|
-250,000 |
|
|
700,000
203,000
|
203,000 |
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
Moments after doubling with kings against a hand we didn't see, Valentyn Shabelnyk had Erik Walfridsson all in and at risk with the latter holding 
and the former . The board ran out dead for Walfridsson and he headed for payouts.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
450,000
269,000
|
269,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
On a flop of 
, Ivan Soshnikov in the small blind, and the player in the big blind checked. The hijack bet 38,000 and Kalidou Sow in the cutoff called. Soshnikov shoved all in for 145,000 and the big blind and initial bettor both folded. Sow called.
Kalidou Sow: 
Ivan Soshnikov: 
Then on the turn and 
on the river were good cards for Soshnikov and he doubled.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
604,000
-196,000
|
-196,000 |
|
|
||
|
416,000
240,000
|
240,000 |